James Bentley
West Plains Daily Quill
James Royce Bentley, 66, West Plains. Died Friday, May 25, 2007, at his home. Robertson-Drago Funeral Home, West Plains.Funeral services for James Royce Bentley, 66, West Plains, will be at 2 p.m., Wednesday in the Rose Chapel, Robertson-Drago Funeral Home.
Mr. Bentley died 4:40 p.m., Friday at his home. He was born January 4, 1941, in West Plains, Mo., to James Robert and Edith Jewel Mason Bentley. On January 24, 1960, he was married at West Plains, Mo., to Judith Ann Faulkner.
Mr. Bentley earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla and a Master’s in construction management from the University of Missouri. He was a Missouri registered professional engineer and land surveyor. Mr. Bentley began his career in 1963 with the Missouri Highway Department in West Plains. In 1966, he accepted a position with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Memphis District where appointments included Resident Engineer of the Arkansas Huxtable Pumping Plant and Chief of the Construction Branch. He was then appointed Chief of the Construction Branch at the Lower Mississippi Valley Division/Mississippi River Commission in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and retired in 1996 as the Director of Construction - Operations Division. He then enjoyed working in Memphis with the Associated General Contractors of America as Executive Vice President until 2000.
He was fond of saying that the three most important accomplishment of his career were Pamela, Jennifer and Christopher, his beloved children. Mr. Bentley was of the Methodist faith.
He is survived by his wife, Judith ‘Judy” Bentley, of the family home; three children, Pamela Kay Bentley Dale, husband, John Bradley, Long Beach, Miss., Jennifer Ann Bentley Booher, husband, Michael, Hernando, Miss. and James Christopher Bentley, wife, Ivonne Justus, Collierville, Tenn.; four grandchildren, Shelby Claire Dale, Samuel Booher, Jackson Bentley and Sophia Bentley; one brother, Dale Bentley, Burleson, Texas; one sister-in-law, Freda Bentley, Oak Grove, Mo.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
His parents, one brother, Dwaine Bentley, and one sister-in-law, Jean Bentley, precede him in death.
Visitation will be from 5 until 7 p.m., Tuesday at Robertson-Drago Funeral Home.
Burial will be at Oak LawnCemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to OzarksMedicalCenterCancerTreatmentCenter and left at Robertson-Drago Funeral Home.